ArdieO is back in front of Josh and widening the gap. Josh does not seem to be moving--not sure what the problem is. He has missed the cut he should be in and may be a shallow area. Hopefully, he will get that figured out shortly.

Toby and Crew (6-man Hawaiian canoe) have passed Josh & Cwolfe.

Wayne aka Mosquitomagnet, a strong paddler, is on course. He started slowly, but is now moving nicely. AhMaChamee, the last Hobie AI in this group, has left Flamingo but is in the channel passing through the mud flats east of Flamingo.

A new boat has come on the scene. It is sailed by Sandy Bottom and her son, SOS. It is a stitch and glue trimaran, built by SOS. After setting out the first day (did not start until day 2), they have raced down the coast and have caught up with the leaders. They are in the Ultimate Florida and do not have to stop at the Ckpts. They are south of Cape Sable and basically doing the southern route to the "Finish" in Key Largo (they will, however, push on to circumnigate FL.) Looks like a very fast boat.

Backwaterbob, on his disabled Hobie AI Tandem, is slowly pedaling down the South Joe River. He has had several kayakers pass him with more to come. Hopefully, they have given him encouragement to push on.

Dogslife is about to make the tack which will carry him to the finish a little over 3 miles away. He will finish in 3rd place overall--what an achievement for a Hobie AI!! ArdieO the super paddler looks to be on pace to come in 4th.

Update Josh aka Tidetraveller is now in the correct channel and will be moving into open water soon. Unfortunately, while he was mucking about in the shallow waters of FL Bay (which has brought down many Watertribers over the years), 3 boats have passed him. He has a real challenge now, so we will see how he does.

Correction Steve is right, the tracker is not updating too well and it is hard to tell exactly where people are. Josh is now in open water and it looks like Josh is clearly in the lead. In the more open water, I think it will be difficult for the other boats to reel Josh back in. Stay tuned. Hobies could be the 3rd and 4th place finishers in this race.

Mosquitomagnet, the strong paddler from Miami, has hit his stride and is moving rapidly. AhMaChamee is still dealing the mud flats east of Flamingo. To make matters worse for him it is close to low tide in the area. That may have also been part of Josh's problem (as well as being off track.)

I don't think Dogslife can see the finish because of the finger juting out into the bay, but maybe can smell it. He has less than 3 miles to go. I don't know what it is, but these guys seem to slow on that last NE tack. It could be that they are getting too close to Key Largo and the land is blocking the wind. That could be a problem for Josh, since ArdieO and Toby & Crew will not slow.

Yes, NiteNavigator (Toby & Crew) is the 6-person Hawaiian outrigger canoe. It is paddled by guys 55 (60?) and older.

Update The updater has given a fairly accurate positon of the boats as of 20 min ago. Josh has had to tack to the SE. ArdieO has taken a much more direct track and may make up a mile on Josh. Toby & Crew are probably following ArdioO. Cwolfe will probably be forced to follow Josh. Stay tuned! Dogslife has finished--3rd place overall.

Yes, Sandy Bottom and her son, SOS, are flying. I'll post a picture of that boat in a few minutes.

I think Josh aka Tidetraveller has made a serious strategic error--easy for me to say looking at a satellite picture of the whole bay area.

Recognizing my 20-20 overview, literally, from above, Josh has tacked too far to the SE. He will be forced to come close to land (lose wind) in order to pass through the only available cut along the keys at that point. In the mean time, ArdieO and Toby & Crew are taking a much more direct track as expected and have an almost straight shot into the finish. Dogslife, earlier in the day, took the proper earlier northeast tack that Josh has missed.

Whatever the outcome, and Josh still has a chance, Josh has run a terrific race. We Hobie AI/TI owners can be very proud of him.

Keith

PS Backwaterbob and his disabled Hobie Tandem are at the mouth of a cut that will take him to an Everglades Chickee--it is only about 3/4 mi in. Go for it Bob, give yourself a break off that dam boat. Unfortunately, his boat position has not been updated for an hour. It is hard to say whether he is taking a break out of the wind or thinking of going in. When the tracker updates his position again, we will know.

What a finish this is going to be! 4th place is going to be determined by a nose. It is between Josh, ArdieO and Toby & Crew. I don't think ArdieO is going to let Toby & Crew beat him.

BTW, Backwaterbob did not go into the chickee--he may not have known it was there. He is 10 miles from Flamingo. Considering that he pedaling that barge, he has done quite well. There is no realistic stopping place now between Flamingo and Bob. The Watertribe tracker says he is doing 27 knots. I doubt that unless a stinkboater has picked him up.

This is incredible. ArdieO is closer to the finish, but the kid, Josh, seems to be on a good tack with good wind. This going to be close. Toby & Crew are doing 168 knots according to the tracker. Maybe Toby decided the only way to beat ArdieO and the kid was to hop a seaplane.

Backwaterbob apparently did pick up a ride with a stinkboater. He is approaching Tarpon Creek only about 5-6 miles from Flamingo. Good for him.

Tidetraveller's SPOT is no longer updating, so we have no idea from the tracker how close he is to finishing. I figure he is going to finish in 20 min or or so, that is, about 5:50 pm. Same with ArdieO.